Prokop's  Press                           January  9, 2009  

Dear Parents and Students,

          Happy New Year! It is amazing to think that it is a new year already. Where does the time fly? We have been very busy in class, as I am sure you are at home. I hope you had an opportunity to relax and enjoy a few of the days during our break. I know I had a great time visiting with family and friends with preparation of two big dinners. Then came Tahoe! My family and I had a wonderful relaxing vacation skiing, snowboarding, and playing our new favorite game, "Balderdash"! Back to reality.

Science Camp: Included, are the first papers about our science camp this year. Please take a look, as the deposite deadline will come upon you sooner than you think. bg

Spelling/Vocabulary: We have begun our first leg of spell-a-thon with the first 25 words. This will take the place of other spelling lessons. Students were given a list to keep at home before the holiday break, but students have been given another list to keep in their homework folder at school. This list is the complete 100 word list if they feel ambitious, and want to get a jump on future weeks' words. The students were also given a schedule of testing, and an information sheet describing the fundraiser. Pledge envelopes went home also before the break. This will be our major fundraiser at school. The money that is earned by the students goes directly to the school, with half of the classroom earnings going directly to our classroom! With Spellathon earnings I have been able to purchase supplemental materials for the classroom such as the weekly red folders, subject folders, computer programs, name tags, dividers, classroom colored pencils, pencil boxes and markers. This year I am hoping to purchase an additional computer, as one is no longer working. As we continue with our new Interwrite board, purchasing more and more support material is our ambition, (such as new pads, pens, or even a student response system.) I urge you to support your child in this fundraiser, as it is very beneficial not only to the school in general, but to all of us in room 16.

Language Arts: Literature Circles have started, along with work in theme 2, "What Really Happened?"  For the first round, students were grouped by me, and as a group decided on a book to read out of a choice of 4. We will begin moving through the book, completing many excercises that pertain to many aspects of each book. While we are meeting in small groups, student will also be working on grammar and writing skills

Social Studies: We are in the middle of our Mesopotamia projects and they will be completed next week. Students have been using resource books in the classroom, internet links (some found on our webpage), and their social study books, to complete the project. The following week will be the chapter test. Coming up in February, we will begin lessons on the long awaited ancient civilization report.

 Have a great weekend!
                                                            Sincerely,
                                                                                Mrs. Leanna Prokop